The use of various devices for entering vehicles to free trapped victims is known. It is particularly important to establish a speedy access to those victims since it may mean the difference between life and death for them. The use of such prior art devices to cut away the body sheet metal to create an access opening is deemed to require some skill in the manipulation of tools.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,117 the rescue tool was developed for primarily entering through a window or windshield of an automobile and allowing the cutting of the material holding those windows in place. Further, the cutting edge is used to sever the seatbelt around the person.
The rescue tool of U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,117 can be used to sever the body sheet metal of the vehicle only by using a further hammer device to drive the point of that tool through the sheet metal. Further, a rope or a pipe must be used in conjunction with this tool for cutting the sheet metal. The disadvantages of such a small tool are deemed obvious.
The metal cutting apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,918 includes a bar having a pry surface and a cutting blade at one end thereof. A relatively complex cylinder is slideably mounted on the cutting blade and is required to drive the point of the cutting blade through the sheet metal. Cutting is then accomplished by rocking the bar using the pry surface of the device as a fulcrum. The cylinder must first be manipulated back and forth on the shaft of the pry surface in order to effectuate the desired piercing. The slideably disposed cylinder must be held with some skill to effectuate the rocking motion necessary for cutting the vehicle sheet metal.
Numerous other devices are known for simply severing metal and are particularly useful in the sheet metal working and cutting industry. These devices along with various other types of cutting tools are readily found in the prior art. The following patents disclose various forms of metal severing tools useful in cutting sheet metal.
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None of the references found in the prior art show the simple one-piece design of the rescue axe of the present invention. The rescue axe includes the facility of being able to enter the sheet metal body, sever the sheet metal of the vehicle body and may be effectively used to remove the roof support braces away from the sheet metal. The rescue axe may also be used to break the automotive glass. The cutting edge of the blade is sufficient to cut through the safety belt strap material, if necessary.